Hongkongers should use the freedom of speech they enjoy to promote the Tibetan cause, the Dalai Lama's official spokesman says.
Thubten Samphel pledged his office's support for efforts by Hong Kong activists to create a Tibet friendship group in the city.
But an academic studying ethnic issues said the plan to recruit 'anti-communist' groups in Hong Kong would gain little local support.
The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that a number of activists, including James Lung Wai-man of the Southern Democratic Alliance, had started plans to create a Tibetan-Chinese Friendship Association in the city to promote Tibetan culture after meeting the Dalai Lama in March in Dharamsala, India, where his entourage lives in exile.
Thubten Samphel said in Dharamsala yesterday that the Dalai Lama's office supported efforts in Hong Kong to promote 'understanding' of the situation in Tibet.
'One of the reasons for their visit was to strengthen the ties and friendship between the Tibetan people and Chinese,' Thubten Samphel said, referring to the visit by 10 Hong Kong activists and 20 overseas Chinese dissidents received by the Dalai Lama.
